Advertise on Google to increase your site’s visibility

How to advertise your website on Google

If you are new to the world of search engine marketing and want to know more about how to advertise your website on Google, this article will get you started.

Advertising your business on Google is an excellent way of exposing your products and service directly to your target market – your ads will only display when someone searching Google inputs a relevant search e.g. if you sell custom-made cricket bats, ads will only be displayed when someone searches for cricket-related material – cricket news, product searches etc.

To advertise on Google, you will need a Google AdWords account – this is where you manage your AdWords campaign.

How much does it cost to advertise on Google?

At present Google charges a nominal, non-refundable activation fee of around $5 to set up an AdWords account. The only other costs incurred to advertise on Google are the direct costs of pay-per-click ads, unless you engage the services of a certified AdWords professional who will charge either a fixed, pro-rata or performance-based Ad campaign management fee.

The cost of ads on Google varies greatly depending on the level of competition for each keyword. Some long-tail or less competitive search terms can cost as little as a few cents per click while competitive search terms can cost well in excess of $25 per click – so it’s important to structure your Ad campaign in such a way as to get the maximum value in terms of relevance and ultimately, return on investment.

There are options for both pre-pay and post-pay in Google AdWords so you can limit how much Google advertising costs you from the outset. Advertisements on Google only incur a cost when the ad is clicked – that’s why AdWords, and other forms of search engine advertising are called pay-per-click (PPC) ads. Regardless of the size of your website, or business, you can advertise successfully on Google. Getting the best value for money can take time and considerable effort so more often than not, the professionals can deliver the best results.

How do I advertise my website for free on Google?

There is no free advertising on Google. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the next best thing to free advertising. The process of SEO allows a website owner to develop or refine their website in such a way as to produce positive organic search engine listings (the main body of search results on Google pages) for relevant terms.

If self-managed, SEO is an effective form of advertising, especially if you can secure a number one listing on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs) for the most commonly searched terms or keywords in your industry. Four in every five searchers choose these organic listings (main search results) over the paid search results (AdWords), so if you can successfully position your business at Number One, you will get the vast majority of web traffic for that search term. Multiply that by the many different ways people search your product or service and Google organic presents itself as an extremely cost-effective form of website advertisement.

SEO is not an easy process to manage. Firstly, it is a long-term process – there is no quick-fix. Secondly, it will not deliver the instant results that Google AdWords advertisements can deliver. Thirdly it requires a certain amount of expertise to get the best results while working within the guidelines of Google. When managed correctly though, it presents an enormous opportunity for any business.

The need for advertising online with Google

There is a growing need for businesses to advertise on the internet, 80% of Australians used the internet in 2010 and over ten million are registered internet users. SEO and Google advertising should be an integral part of sales & marketing strategies for every modern Australian business. What you do online must reflect what your business is about offline and vice versa. Don’t rush into anything – take the time to get it right.

roi.com.au, as Australia’s leading performance-based search engine marketing company – for both Google AdWords and SEO, we deliver top results for hundreds of businesses right across Australia. View our Client Results and Testimonials to see consistent ranking and traffic wins and roi.com.au success stories or call us on 1300 650 274 for more on what advertising with Google can do for your business.